How to Out Avatar Avatar
When James Cameron's Avatar debuted, it was hailed as a visual masterpiece. No doubt with how far 3D has come today, we easily forget that what we were treated to in 2009 represented groundbreaking advances in technology. But as a film, as a piece of narrative storytelling? My one word
Jupiter Ascending? Not So Fast
Slated for a July 18th release, the multi-hundred million dollar Warner Brothers production Jupiter Ascending by all appearances aspires to be a summer blockbuster up there with other revenue generating behemoths. Unless the Wachowskis deliver a film with Gravity level word of mouth acclaim however, there's real potential here for
Frozen and an Alternative Ending
The latter half of 2013 in cinema was marked by a torrent of unequivocally excellent films. Yet Frozen, the Walt Disney Animation Studios film, was perhaps the biggest surprise hit. With the recent dearth in Pixar masterpieces, the movie demonstrates a Disney still capable of endearing storytelling and vivid animation
The Fall of IMAX
Once upon a time, going to watch an IMAX film at the now defunct Canada Place CN IMAX was an occasion. As their slogan boasts, one absolutely needed to see IMAX in person to believe it. The 70mm film projected onto a mammoth 1.43:1 screen combined with an
Captain Phillips — My Take
Assessing Paul Greengrass's depiction of the Maersk Alabama pirate takeover, Captain Phillips, is in several ways quite reminiscent of last year's history dramatization Zero Dark Thirty. While Somali pirates hijacking a US flagged container ship and then subsequently being defeated at the hands of US military may seem slightly less
Ender's Game — My Take
"The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity..."—Ezekeil, 18:20 Spoilers Follow I have yet to read Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, nor the subsequent books in its universe. Considering the place in science--fiction literature these books hold, it's not surprising to have a certain
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 — My Take
Watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, one really appreciates the absolute magic that Pixar weaves into so many of its films that evidently others cannot. Sure Meatballs is not without its high points—the live food animals are some of the cutest things ever to be rendered—but